


Hearts Aglow

by quicksylver28



Series: Sentinel AU - Gundam Wing [3]
Category: Gundam Wing, The Sentinel
Genre: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Established Relationship, Feral Behavior, Kidnapping, M/M, Shinigami
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 05:37:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15550824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quicksylver28/pseuds/quicksylver28
Summary: Third Installment in the GW Sentinel series. Part of my Rough Trade Little Black Dress July 2018 Challenge. You should read the other two to understand what's going on in this one.





	1. Chapter 1

 

"We are almost there Miss." the driver, a baby faced young man sent by the car agency glanced up at her through the rearview mirror. "We'll be at the house in a few minutes."

 

"Thank you Driver."

 

Velvet gloved hands snapped the flip phone closed with a soft snick and spun the sleek silver cased device in her delicate palms. The idyllic country side was a riot if colours as spring had burst from winter's chill like the first bird song.  Even the heavily tinted windows of the town car could do nothing to damper the violent new growth and wild beauty that unfurled along the smooth stone road.

 

Soon enough they turned unto a long gravel pathway, the small stones crunching and shifting under the heavy tires. The drive was lined with massive trees, their branches arching high over the drive and leaving the path in dappled sunlight.

 

The chateau at the end of the drive was quaint in that old world French country style with window boxes full of flowers and painted white shutters over roughly hewn yet elegant stone work. There was a neat garden off to the side and small two car garage built in the same style as the house around to the back.

 

It was a picturesque image, of welcoming warmth and sunny days walking amongst the pale pink and yellow plumeria that blossomed everywhere. The scent hung heavy in the morning air, taking her back to school days and soft secrets shared between teenage girls.

 

The driver, ever eager, pulled up to the ornate wooden front door and quickly hopped out, hustling his way over to open the back door with a deep bow. He seemed a little too nervous and stank of desperate embarrassment, sweating profusely under his black chauffeur's cap and high collar.

 

She would have felt a pang of pity for the man but she wasn't the pitying kind. Tucking her phone into the pocket of her voluminous skirt, she took up her attaché case and exited the car, giving the driver the barest of nods. Flipping her long curtain of hair over her shoulder and smoothing down her skirt after being seated for the long ride out here, she looked up at the house with a small mysterious smile.

 

The front door opened silently, an elderly gentleman standing solemnly in the shadowed inside. His sharp eyes took in the pale blue headband tying her hair back, the sleeveless matching dress with dark blue jacket and sensible heels. The navy attaché case and modest jewelry. As if finding her suitable, he stepped back and motioned her to come in.

 

"Good Morning Miss, " his voice that old familiar mix of warmth and respectful distance. "It is wonderful to see you again. It has truly been a while since you've been to Sanq."

 

She gave him a small smile, eyes subtly tracking the interior of the house. "It is good to see you again Pagan. I'm glad to be back. I have such great memories here."

 

His eyes took on a warmth that didn't reflect on the rest of his countenance. He guided her through the tastefully decorated halls before coming to a stop in front of a set of large carved doors. His face fell slightly, making him look all of his seventy plus years. Grey eyes caught hers as he sighed.

 

"Things have changed in that time I must admit. " he frowned, looking at his gnarled hands as they rested on the door's ornate handles. "Some of it for the better. Most of it for the worse I'm afraid. I bid you be cautious Miss."

 

He glanced up pointedly and she followed his gaze to a security camera mounted almost seamlessly to the ceiling, its red blinking light and the Preventer's logo etched to the side seemed almost an affront to the elegant beauty all around it.  Her sharp eyes had clocked a few more scattered in their journey from the front door and she turned to the old man once again, placing her hand over his and giving it a gently squeeze.

 

His shoulders seemed to slump in relief and he opened the doors to reveal a large sunroom. Large glass walls framed in intricate iron frames curled up to form a high glass ceiling, letting the sun's light bathe the room in a warm and cheerful glow. Comfortable wicker furniture with frilly cushions were scattered around in groups, making several lovely niches where one could sit and partake in social niceties.

 

An intricately detailed wrought iron tea table and chairs sat in the curved glass alcove, a sterling silver tea set with a half-eaten breakfast in pride of place. Nearby, sat a curved, high back wicker chair with a small table set beside it. There was a teacup and saucer from the set on it, resting on a lace doily. On the shelf below the table top sat a basket of knitting supplies and the making of another doily, this time in pale blue.

 

A delicate and pale hand appeared from the side of the chair, picking up with teacup and saucer and pulling them both out of view. Moments later the hand appeared, setting the dishes down with the barest of trembles, the cup and saucer rattling softly; hot and still steaming tea slopping over the sides of the cup and staining the saucer below.

 

She stood at the door, lost for a moment in the memory of a first meeting. Of long awaited plans and a fierce loyalty that had been sown and germinated during a time of war, sparking another war within herself that still fielded battles up to this very moment.

 

Taking a deep breath and smoothing down her dress once again, she stepped slowly forward, rounding the high backed chair slowly as to not startle her quarry. A blonde head was ducked down, hair hanging loose around thin shoulders as the rest of the form was wrapped in a floral house kimono thrown over a frilly nightgown. If small and trembling hands, there was a ball of yarn; nimble fingers untangling the snarled mess with a focused intensity and dexterity.

 

She cleared her throat softly and the fingers stopped, a pale face snapping up to reveal wide and raw blue eyes. Stripped of all self and dignity, leaving only a lost and anxious gaze.

 

"Am I dreaming?" the voice was barely more than a whisper. "Dotty?"

 

There was no one else on the planet or in space that she allowed to call her that. Anyone else she would have cut them off at the knees, be it verbally of physically. But to hear that name from that voice made her heart twist. She came forward to kneel at the figure's feet, one hand slowly coming up to cup a sallow and sunken cheek. The pale skin was cold and the brittle feel of it made her blood boil under her cool exterior.

 

She gripped the handle of her attaché case with her other hand, the plans she'd been toying with ever since she'd left Prague and snuck into Sanq with the help of some of her old Romerfeller contacts crystalizing as she took in the pale reflection of the former Queen of the World.

 

She'd hadn't been sure of what exactly she would do when she decided to come here, to come and see if the careful plans she'd spent years coaxing and grooming into reality would bear meaningful fruit. She'd almost succeeded, helpfully providing pieces of Ephyon to the Winner so that he could become something Treize himself had foreseen so many years ago.

 

Too bad that the blond Arab had been too weak to become what she'd hoped. His mind had cracked and Ephyon has swarmed what remained of his sanity. She'd planned for that, had put several contingency plans in place to deal with the situation should it have gotten too dire.

 

What she hadn't foreseen was the other gundam pilots getting involved. Of pilot 02 and his search for Relena's pet project bringing Milliardo and Chang to the capital. To the palace. She'd personally seen to it that the tall blonde be driven away, stirring up Noin's hatred had been pathetically easy. The woman had been simple enough to manipulate.

 

She'd been wary of keeping 01 at the palace but the gundam pilot had been such a juicy bait to dangle in front of them both and had kept them exactly where she'd wanted them better that any other single cause.

 

A pale, cold cheek nuzzled weakly into her gloved hand and she rubbed her thumb along a sharp cheekbone, frowning how the skin pulled and sagged from even the gentlest of motions.

 

She'd snuck into Sanq to see if her plans could have been salvaged. If there was anything left for her to pick up and run with. It had always been like that when the Gundams were involved. They had a way of popping up when you needed them least and wrecking every and all plans and weapons formed against them. She'd come to see what she could pick from the debris.

 

But this. The sight of this poor diminished figure in front of her stoked the flames of rage within her cold stone heart. To see such grace and dignity transformed into this pitiable creature made ice flood through her veins.

 

Already new plans started forming in her mind, calculations and contingencies tumbling around the steel trap of her brain as the figure before her trembled under her touch. She would not forgive this. She could not. There were few people on the earth or in space that she gave a rat's ass about and she would be damned if she would lose such a vibrant soul to this gilded cage.

 

Well, she was already damned but that was beside the point. She'd lived her entirely life with her eyes open, walked into every decision knowing the consequences. That was not about to change… gundam pilots or no gundam pilots.

 

Cloudy grey eyes sharpened briefly in return and a soft gasp was heard in the silence of the room.

 

"Dorothy?"

 

She gave a slow sharp grin and gently caressed the cold cheek with her velvet covers knuckles.

 

"Hello, Miss Relena."


	2. Chapter 2

Sunrise in Sanq was breathtaking. The pale, cool blue of the morning sky, warming up by increments as the sun peeked over the trees that lined the massive garden; bathing the tips in gold.

 

Duo let his mind drift, taking deep and steady breaths. The chill of the receding night clung stubbornly to his loose cotton pyjamas and the hair that tumbled in loose waves over his shoulders and down his back.

 

He'd started wearing the untreated material to bed and washing his long hair with the natural shampoo because everything else seemed to make his sentinel break out in hives after a while. Of course Heero had tried to soldier his way through the discomfort at first but having a sneezing fit while your lover was trying to give you head was an awful experience neither of them wanted to experience ever again.

 

He let his empathy stretch out over the castle at his back, skipping lightly over the occupants, both asleep and awake. The staff were bustling around, getting the household ready for the day. The head butler Helmsworth, an older gentleman brought over from Zech's own household, was a calm rock amidst the flow of people and emotions that swirled around him.

 

Zechs and Wufei were still abed, enjoying the rare quiet morning together. He hummed as his mind brushed against their bond, warmed by the love and acceptance that positively thrummed between the two men. Zechs sent back the empathic equivalent of brushing of knuckles softly against his cheek and he smiled.

 

Ilora was still tucked in bed, her dreams filled with innocent joy that rang like the clearest bell over the empathic plane. Though latent, she had a powerful potential; no doubt following in her father's footsteps. The cool shadows of her security team ghosted around her orbit like the well-oiled machine he'd carefully crafted it to be.

 

Heero was sleeping deeply and Duo felt not a little smug over wearing his sentinel out the night before. Things had been tense for the past few days. With the coronation over and a few weeks between them and the ceremony and the opening of parliament, they four Gundam pilots had finally had time to wade through the copious notes on Sentinels and Guides that Relena and Quatre had archived over the years.

 

The first few days of reading through hundreds of files, audio recordings, videos and medical reports had been awful. On more than one occasion Duo had needed to excuse himself from the secured room and retreat to the bathroom. Heero often followed soon after either holding Duo's hair out of the way while he vomited or sitting with him in the empty tub as he shed bitter tears.

 

Romerfeller were truly heartless fuckers and he was glad that they'd all been wiped out after the Eve Wars. Even Treize, as much as it pained Zechs to admit it, had been cold hearted in his musings . The mythos about sentinels and guides had existed in various forms throughout history and Oz and Romerfeller had been collecting and researching for years… decades even.

 

Observation, experimentation, dissection even genetic manipulation and selective breeding. All of it done by curious scientists with cold hands and even colder eyes. Sadly, most of the information dropped off after the wars and had either been scrapped and destroyed by the Preventers or had gone deeper underground. It was a harrowing thought that had driven them all to contemplative silence more than once.

 

Duo sifted through those thoughts, acknowledging them and then letting them slip away as he'd been taught. It had taken a lot of practice to learn how to settling his mind properly, his brain had always been a runaway locomotive.

 

The sun was up above the tree line by the time he'd levelled out again and he took one more cleansing breath and stood; stretching languidly. He moaned softly as his back popped; dropping into some simple yoga moves that opened up his joints. Gathering up his mat and slipping on his soft shoes, he made his way back up to the house, waving and smiling at the ground crew as they worked to keep the manicured gardens beautiful.

 

He stopped in the kitchens, greeting the staff and chatting for a bit with the Majordomo. He arranged for a simple breakfast to be sent up to their rooms and went off in search of his lover. Heero was still sprawled across the bed when he slipped back into the room, naked as a jaybird and snoring slightly. The covers had been kicked off to the edge of the large bed and Heero's foot hung from one side while his arm hung off the other.

 

Duo grinned at the adorable sight. For the former 'perfect soldier' to be so relaxed where another human being could witness was still something truly wonderful to behold.  For Heero to let go of that rigid hold he'd kept on himself for so many years was something that brought a quiet joy to Duo's heart and was a balm to the still wrathful Shinigami.

 

Stripping off his clothes and sliding into bed next to his lover, he kissed Heero's sleep warm shoulder before tucking himself along his sentinel's back. The Japanese man snorted and mumbled something sleepily, pushing back into Duo's arms, seeking comfort and touch even in his sleep.

 

Snaking his hand around and resting his palm on Heero's chest, he pressed his lips against his lover's pulse point and let the steady beat of his beloved's heart pull him into a restful doze.

 

\-------------------------------------------

 

Duo watched from the door as Ilora tried to playfully creep up on her father. Zechs has his back turned  as he looked over documents and maps strewn across the table. The blonde held himself still, no doubt smiling to himself as the young girl executed a masterful villainous creep towards his broad back. Duo grinned as Zechs twirled at the last second, catching his squealing daughter mid leap, growling playfully into her curls as he swung her around.

 

Ilora laughed, her tinkling voice happy and carefree as her tiny hands clutched at the Regent's shirtsleeves. Zechs let himself collapse into one of the nearby plush chairs, his little girl snuggled against his side. As they fell into soft conversation, Duo gave one last cursory look at the old war room turned massive study and let himself out of the room, closing the doors behind him and slouching against the frame.

 

At a glance, most people would have dismissed him as a lazy teen, even dressed in his tailored black clothes and shiny boots. They would have seen the sharp gaze of his violet eyes, the weapons hidden around his body and in his long braid. They wouldn't have seen the coiled spring in the ease of his stance or the callouses on his hands from years handling all manner of weapons.

 

His eyes scanned the hall way quickly, his empathic sense brushing casually along the people moving around the floor. He was getting better at wielding his sixth sense, stretching it and strengthening it like a muscle. Shinigami still preyed in the back of his mind, crouched in the shadows like a vulture, it's massive black wings spread, wide and intimidating, over the rest of his psyche.

 

Whatever he'd awoken during his fight with Quatre had not gone away like he'd expected but had seemed to manifest itself more fully as somewhat of a separate entity. Not exactly a split personality, Zechs had labeled it more of a facet of Duo himself. Everything he'd associated with war and death and pain and shaped it into the God of Death, the Great Destroyer and even though he'd shunted it to one side after the wars; had never been able to get rid of it.

 

Not that he'd tried to mind you. Most people would have done almost everything to destroy or hide that part of themselves but Duo had never been one of them. Shinigami was a piece of him just like any other part. Just as Duo was the part that Solo gave him, as Maxwell was the part that The Father and Sister Helen have given to him. Just as Kid was the smallest, weakest part of himself from the earliest days on the streets of L2. All these parts slotted together to make him the man he was at this moment.

 

Some people would call that being insane. Duo would say that sanity was overrated. Being a Gundam pilot was being functioning sociopath anyway, despite the way the powers that be tried to romanticize the rebellion. As long as he could live his life in freedom and protect he ones he loved, Duo was satisfied with his lot in life.

 

A presence pinged along his senses, bringing out of his thoughts. Heero was approaching from the west at a steady pace. There was a thread of concern along the bond and Duo straightened up, frowning as his lover came around the corner. There was a look on his face that Duo recognized well, it was the infamous mission face and the sight of it sent a shiver up his spine.

 

Heero walked up, stepping right into his space and pressing his nose against Duo's pulse point, his arms slipping around the 02 pilot's waist. Duo leaned in to the embrace, his arms wrapping around Heero's shoulders and settling against that broad back.

 

It was something that Heero did when they were alone, focusing his senses on Duo, letting his guide envelope him with his essence. It was a touchstone for him, an oasis against all the stimuli that constantly pulled at him. He'd barely let himself recover from the torturous time endured under Relena's and Quatre's care before he'd taken up position as Head of Security for Zechs and Wufei.

 

They hadn't even been able to nest for more than a few days. Romerfeller research had spoken at length about the need for solitude during and after bonding and it had worried all of them that neither Heero nor Duo had felt the need to be alone for more than a couple days.

 

Wufei had theorized that Heero's treatment under Doctor J may have played a part in his somewhat skewed instincts and a rage has simmered within the 01 pilot that still burned in the back of his analytical mind to this day. Damn J and his endless and cruel experiments. Damn him to the deepest pits of hell as he still managed to reach from beyond the grave to fuck with Heero's life.

 

He inhaled Duo's scent, visualizing his dials leveling out as his guide's heartbeat thrummed against his. Pulling off his gloves, he yanked the back of Duo's shirt out of his pants and slipped his hands against bare skin. A shudder went through him as Duo squirmed closer, his sweet breath in Heero's ear.

 

He was so grateful, so fucking grateful for his guide. His lode star in the blackest of nights to bring him home. Duo never complained about small things like this. Heero's need for physical comfort when the day got a little too crazy. He usually just huffed and laugh and gave Heero this fondly exasperated look as if saying 'don't be stupid… just come here idiot.'

 

From the safety of Duo's arms, Heero cast out his hearing, checking over the halls above and below in a matter of seconds. Just a causal browsing over the castle and the occupants within it. Even though the castle was technically Wufei's territory as alpha, if what they'd read in the research was correct; Heero was in charge of compound security and he took his new job and his new tribe very seriously.

 

Hn. A tribe. That's what the history book had called it, dating back to even the ancient texts that Wufei had inherited from his clan. He'd been part of a tribe before, if you called the Gundam pilots that. To the end of the first war they'd been a pretty tight knit group. As well as young and dumb and borderline suicidal freedom fighters could be. They'd had a common goal in the end and that was what had kept them together.

 

After the war, there had been nothing holding the group together so they'd split; only to come pack in the eve wars. Different yet still similar, they'd had to fit themselves together in all new ways; like pieces of a puzzle that had been cut and remade. They'd had a shared past. They'd had a common goal. They'd had history. Too bad none of that proved any good in keeping them together yet again.

 

But now, it was different. Now he had a guide, a lover, a partner. He had friends, a purpose, a future. He had freedom to make his own decisions. He had something to fill up his hollow chest other than war. He had bonds that tied him to others and them to him. He had Duo. Lover, guide, equal, protector, sword, shield, everything.

 

He pulled the slender man tighter to him, reveling in the warmth that seemed to radiate from Duo's very soul. Long fingers carded gently through his hair, no doubt messing up the brunette curls beyond all redemption and he huffed a laugh against the warm skin of his lover's neck.

 

He could hear the soft murmur of Zechs and Ilora's voices beyond the heavy study doors, the soft and steady steps of Security as they patrolled. The easy laughing of the maids as they chatted a floor above. The sweet bird song in the gardens beyond. The scent of Duo's skin mixed with the faint cologne that Zechs wore, the hint of pastry cream that hung around Ilora and her sneaking visits to the palace kitchens.

 

There were fresh flowers all over the castle, Ranunculus, Amaryllis and Anemones; all grown on the palace grounds and chosen for their variety of colours and mild fragrance. There is still a rose garden dedicated to Trieze's memory but both Zechs and Duo had been determined to make sure that the royal gardens didn't wreak havoc on their sentinels.

 

Eventually they pulled apart, trading soft chaste kisses as Duo tucked his shirt back in and straightened Heero's collar. The door opened behind them, Zechs' face solemn as he looked passed them down the corridor; Ilora peaking from behind his legs.

 

"Wufei's coming. He's upset about something." he murmured softly, his hand on his daughter's head.

 

Duo and Heero both looked down the hallway just in time to see Wufei step around the corner at a pace, two of Heero's handpicked team striding behind him. His face was stern but it softened at the sight of his daughter, giving her a smile as she called his name and ran to him. He plucked her up into his arms and gave her a hug, catching Duo's eyes as he murmured soothing words into her hair.

 

Duo nodded and was on the radio with his team immediately. In less than a minute, the Crown Princesses Au Pair and two of her team were there and waiting to escort her to her play suite. Then, with two guards stationed at the doors and the white noise generator in the study flipped on, the four Gundam pilots sat down to talk.

"Dorothy Catalonia has been spotted within Sanq Borders." the Chinese man settled into one of the high backed chairs with a frown, tucking his hands into the wide sleeves of his shirt. "The Royal Guard is working with local authorities now to determine how she was able to make it across the borders without being detained. One of Zechs' first directives was to declare her Persona non grata in Sanq."

 

Duo snorted inelegantly. "Bitch got off to easy for the part she played in this whole thing."

 

Heero nodded, his hands flexing into fists repeatedly until Duo's hand snaked over to twine their fingers together. Heero gave him a minute smile and took a deep breath, turning to face the others.

 

"What do we know?"

 

Wufei pulled out a slim hand held device and scrolled across the information of the screen. "She was flagged on Preventer's surveillance yesterday afternoon for about half an hour but then disappeared soon after that. We've had partial matches in five different places but the matches have all been less than 30%. They are all being investigated but so far none of them have panned out."

 

Zechs scowled darkly, "And how are we now finding out about this? She's been in Sanq since yesterday at the latest. That woman has been free to slink around my country for more than twenty hours. Do you know what Catalonia can do in just twelve?"

 

Duo leaned forward. "Yeah Wu, we're a bit late on the ball with this one aren't we?"

 

Wufei pinched the bridge of his nose and nodded in weary agreement. "Trust me. I am livid about the fact that I'm just hearing about it now. Apparently, this was due to a breakdown of communication and differing level of Priority between Sanq and the Preventers."

 

He sighed and got up to get himself a cup of tea and took a sip of the hot brew before turning to face them. "Although Sanq authorities has Catalonia's status as an Enemy of the State, it seems that the Preventers have her at a much lower priority. By the time someone had flagged her on the tapes and made a report about it, a full half day had passed. It's been a monumental cock-up from the start and I've put key people in place so that this doesn't snowball into a disaster."

 

"It's a bit late for that." Duo grimaced, tightening his hold on Heero's hand. "Who knows what that snake in the grass has been able to get her creepy psycho claws into already. "

 

Heero tilted his head. "Where did the Preventer's spot her though? If she was able to dodge Sanq security so well, how did they even catch her on camera?"

 

Wufei set aside the empty cup, winching as it rattled loudly against the saucer. "She walked right into a place that has only been under surveillance 24/7 for the past few months. Catalonia may have been successful at avoiding Sanq detection but she probably didn't expect cameras there."

 

Zechs took in a sharp breath, his eyes blue and cold. "She want to Relena didn't she?"

 

The sentinel nodded and Duo let his head fall into his free hand with a gusty sigh, wincing a bit as Heero's hands squeezed his.

 

"Well… fuck."


	3. Chapter 3

Duo let himself fall unto the bed with a long and breathy groan, rubbing his face into the fresh sheets and inhaling deeply.

 

"I love you bed. You are my new favourite."

 

He heard Heero's soft chuckle behind him and huffed, snuggling deeper into the fresh linen. "Don't laugh Yuy. You may be the love of my life but there's a special place in my cold, black husk of a heart for thousand thread count bedsheets and sleep magic pillows. It's like sleeping on a frikkin' cloud."

 

Heero grunted, sounding just as exhausted as Duo was; his heavy boots thumping on the carpet as he peeled off his gear. His eyes ran over the curled form of his lover on the bed, violet eyes half drooping with sleep. He carefully un-holstered and placed his weapons in a nearby cabinet built specially for that purpose; shedding his shirt, pants and underwear until he was left bare assed and rolling his tired and aching shoulders.

 

It had been a long couple of days. Too damned long if he had anything to say about it. They'd been going non-stop since news that Dorothy Catalonia being spotted within Sanq borders had been announced. Already, they'd been in countless meetings and video conferences with the Preventers, Local Law Enforcement, the Royal Guard and the Sanq Government.

 

It had been a chore convincing some of the parties why this was such concerning development. It seemed that not everyone remembered or even knew about the role the blonde played in the Mobile Suit Wars. There was also the fact that the whole incident surrounding Relena's stepping down as ruler had been deemed classified Top Secret, many of the more gruesome details being redacted from all but a few records.

 

Duo had delved right into the fledgling Sanq intelligence network, data mining the surveillance tapes and border crossing reports with brutal and ruthless efficiency. Heero had joined with the various teams in charge of actively searching for the blonde, chasing down leads and organizing local patrols.

 

Wufei worked with the Preventers, liaising with Une herself in addition to working as Zechs' right hand as the Crown Regent concentrated on keeping up his royal duties and taking care of the country.

 

During all of this chaos, Zechs had taken time to visit his sister at the country estate where she'd gone to 'convalesce' after relinquishing her crown. He'd taken Wufei with him as they'd all agreed that neither Heero nor Duo should ever set foot anywhere near the former queen of the world. That left the  new sentinel and guide pair to watch any and all interactions within the house from a security room at the Preventer branch offices in Sanq.

 

Heero had eventually had to ask the techs to give them the room as, even through the lens of a surveillance camera, Duo had not reacted well to seeing the woman who'd essentially imprisoned and tortured his sentinel as a veritable sex slave for years; scaring the veteran security officers with his sub-vocal growling and the heavy presence of Shinigami bubbling too close to the surface.

 

And that was what it had been really- imprisonment and torture. Even Heero had been forced to admit it to himself eventually, no more sticking his head in the sand. He'd no longer been able to remain in stubborn denial of what had he'd gone through as the  bond between them had steadily grown. Duo had always been one for brutal honesty, either with himself or others and that core value had echoed strongly along the bond between them.

 

Heero's sentinel instincts had risen in response, seeking to conquer and disseminate anything that could cause his guide such emotional and mental distress. The brutal fact that most of the pain his lover was feeling was mostly a reflection of his own deep seated pain had been fierce motivation for the Wing pilot.

 

So, through numerous group sessions with Zechs and Wufei in the last few months, they had been able to chip away at the barriers that J's training had constructed in Heero's mind to handle and shunt away 'useless' trauma. It was still slow going  but they were making steady progress, with both pilots being on a pretty even keel mentally.

 

Anyway, Zechs' visit to Relena's country estate had been rough to witness, even over cameras. The old man Pagan had been uncommonly closed off and uncooperative with Zechs and the few preventers on guard duty seemed too lax and set in their ways to be of much help.

 

Granted, guarding one disgraced princess and a staff of two could been seen as a cake walk for most but it hadn't excused the fact that Dorothy fucking Catalonia, dangerous war criminal and enemy of the crown, had walked right into their job site and out again as if just popping in for fucking tea.

 

Wufei had been chomping at the bit, almost breathing fire like his namesake at the lackluster effort being put forward by the on duty security and the entire team had undoubtedly felt his wrath. Even Une had not gone unscathed as the responsibility for Relena's house arrest had been entirely under the Preventer's purview.

 

Last he'd heard the entire team had been reprimanded and reassigned to shit details in far off and remote locations. Served the fuckers right for being useless as a screen door on a submarine.

 

Heero chuffed tiredly, now he was starting to sound like Duo in his own mind. He scratched his stomach absently, making a face at his own stench. He felt sticky and grimy and in dire need of a shower so he stepped over to the bed, tapping his partner's foot before unzipping his black lace up boots.

 

"lemme 'lone" Duo moaned, his face half buried in the covers, weakly flailing his socked feet against Heero's hands. "need sleep 'Ro."

 

"You need to get clean. We can't go to bed like this. We'd both regret it long before morning." Heero replied, tugging at Duo's belt and grunting as the other man rolled unto his back.

 

Soon enough, Duo's pants joined his shoes on the carpet. With a heavy sigh, Duo allowed Heero to pull him upright, raising his arms so that his sentinel could pull his shirt and under armor vest off.

 

They stumbled to the bathroom where, together, they secured Duo's braid in a mesh cap with plastic shower cap over it all. It was too much effort to wash and dry that much hair before bed so tucking it up was the only other option.

 

The shower was short and efficient, with the both of them essentially holding each other up under the massive shower head. Duo was listing heavily by the time Heero patted them both down with towels and was snoring before his head even hit the pillow.

 

Tucking himself close against his lover's back, Heero gently pulled Duo against his chest and pressed his lips into his still damp shoulder; absently finding and tracking his guide's heartbeat as he pulled the covers over them both.

 

Seeing Relena, even on a security monitor, had been a surprising emotional strain. Not only did he have to keep his extremely protective guide from trying to reach through the monitor to choke a bitch; but he'd had to sort through his own feelings at seeing what was left of the woman who had such a large impact on his life; ever since the day he'd first crash landed on earth.

 

Relena had been so many things to him over the years. Damsel in distress, protector, advocate, stalker, potential love interest, princess, leader, political flashpoint, symbol of peace, purpose for fighting. She'd been an ideal, and idea of peace and freedom for him and for the other pilots alike. Like Nike, the goddess of victory; she'd been a shining light and salvation for his wounded and scarred soul.

 

He'd collapsed into her arms at the end of the Eve Wars, sure in the fact that he wouldn't have to fight anymore; that he could lay his head down and let the Perfect Soldier fade away. He'd been so tired, down to his very soul. And with her, he'd thought that there would be rest.

 

But the solace he'd craved for so long had never come. Instead he'd been lost in a nightmare of Doctor J's making; besieged on all sides by those he'd come to equate with peace. Having Quatre and Relena hurt him like that had been like a deep cut, the shock and surprise of it taking his breath away. These people had been his friends, symbols of all that was good and true in turbulent times and he'd hadn't understood why they would hurt him so.

 

He'd retreated further and further, curling away into the darkness as they tried harder and harder to reach him, to hook him and pull him kicking and screaming into the harsh cold light.

 

It had only been Duo's comforting presence that had made Heero lift his bowed head. Only his guide's dulcet voice and the steady familiar beating of his heart had called to him in the unending night. Waking up to Duo had been like breaching the surface of a dark lake and breathing in fresh air for the first time and Heero had never looked back.

 

Seeing her after so long had been shocking. Relena Peacecraft had been a former shell of herself; as if she'd been hollowed out and had slowly crumpled in. her skin had been sallow and her face drawn. Her once wheat gold hair hung limp around her face and thin shoulders.

 

Her eyes stared at nothing and she barely responded to any of Zechs' overtures. Pagan had stood aside, his old face blank, looking aged beyond even his advanced years. Forever standing silent and resigned. Relena's last protector, her very own sentinel and sole champion.

 

Zechs had come back from the visit shaken and pale, letting a taciturn Wufei lead him away to their personal chambers. It had taken some alone time with his sentinel and a couple of stiff drinks for him to talk about how his sister had 'felt' during his visit.

 

"She's gone" his hand and his voice had trembled around his brandy filled tumbler, "…everything that she was… is just gone."

 

He drained his glass in one alarming go and cast his eyes across the room to where the decanter of Brandy sat, staring at the cut crystal bottle for a few long moments before shaking his head bitterly and handing the glass to Wufei; who stepped forward and grabbed the tumbler before it could fall. The former shenlong pilot shared a glance with the others before setting the empty glass upside down on the silver tray with a succinct clack.

 

Zechs stared down at this hands, seeming lost as he continued to spoke. "I felt almost nothing from her. Surface thoughts only. I… I couldn't help myself, I dug deeper, trying to find something of my sister but there was nothing. I stopped myself before I got to far but …. She just wasn't there. I can't find her."

 

He looked like a man gutted by loss. Heero supposed that it had been a loss  of sorts. For all her faults, for all the wrongs she'd done and had gotten away with in the end; Relena was still a Peacecraft and one of the last remaining pieces of Milliardo Peacecraft's past. His little sister. His family by blood.

 

Duo had been silent during it all, his face carefully blank whenever Hero had glanced over. Their bond was calm when he checked it, quiet in the way Duo got quiet when he got truly serious about something. Those were the times when Heero made sure to have his weapon handy because when Duo eventually went sideways, Heero would be going  right alongside him.

 

Even after the pow wow had broken up and they'd gone on to their separate duties, Duo still hadn't talked much about what he'd been thinking so deeply on. But that had been fine. Heero knew that Duo usually needed time to turn things over in his head before talking about it. Pushing only ever resulted in being stonewalled for an even longer time. But Heero was nothing if not a patient man and he was content to let his lover come to him when he was ready.

 

A soft snuffle snort from his lover brought Heero back from his musing and he blinked his gritty eyes in the darkness of the room. God he was tired, why wasn't he asleep yet? Using one of the methods Wufei had taught Duo for meditation, he acknowledged each thought before letting them slip away, slowing his breathing as he went along.

 

When his mind finally cleared enough to leave him blank and floating, he'd carefully turned down his dials; trusting in his security team to watch over the royal household for the night.

 

Then, letting himself sink into the essence that was his beautiful guide, Heero drifted into a deep, restful sleep.

 

……………………………………………………………..

 

"Saint preserve us" Duo muttered to himself as he scanned another ream of security footage. "Why is it so fucking hard to find one woman?"

 

He rubbed his aching eyes and grabbed for his cup of coffee, cursing softly and tapping the bottom of the paper cup over his open mouth as he tried to get the last drops of the now cold liquid. Snarling at the empty coffee maker, he crushed the cup and threw it into the bin.

 

"Son of a biscuit eating bulldog." he bitched as he checked the small cupboard of the coffee station for powder to make a fresh pot and came up empty. "I mean… it's not like she can just blend into a crowd easily. Have you seen those eyebrows? I mean those things should be tripping up even the weakest facial recognition software. Talk about distinguishing features."

 

He gave up on looking for coffee and grabbed the box of teabags. Dropping three into a new cup and pouring hot water over it, he doctored the drink with an absurd amount of milk and sugar.

 

"I mean… we can just post a picture of those babies to the public with the caption: Have you seen these eyebrows? The person attached to them is considered armed and dangerous. If you see her do not approach. Just call your local preventer office immediately. Shit. We'd be flooded with tips in no time."

 

He dropped back into his chair and sipped at the concoction, making a satisfied face at the unholy liquid in his hand. At least it seemed that way from the horrified face the surveillance tech was making at him and his tea-bomination. Duo just hummed and twisted the teabag strings together, taking another heavy sip of the hot brew.

 

His phone chirped and he shifted in his seat to dig it out of his pocket. It was a message from Nanette, one of Ilora's personal guard. He quickly read through the text and sent back an acknowledgement, already pushing out of his seat and draining his tea in a few quick gulps.

 

"Gotta go." He tossed the cup into the bin and nodded to the tech. "Keep me updated on the search. If you can't get through to me, report to Mitchum and he'll get to the right people."

 

He was already out the door by the time the tech stammered a reply.

 

 

Emma, the Royal Au Pair, was waiting for him at the doors to the solarium, tapping on her phone while maintaining an alert watch of the long hallway. He was aware that more than two of the Princess' security team were stationed nearby and he was pleased that his first cursory glance revealed neither hide nor hair of them. That was exactly how he'd trained them to be.

 

Duo had handpicked them all himself, grooming Emma and the rest of Ilora's personal team to be the best at their game. Taking the best of his training experience as a former gundam pilot and from working with Howard's crew, he'd distilled it into a training regimen that had been both brutal and highly effective.

 

Standing at petite 5' 3" in her a sharp and well-tailored pale pink skirt suit, sunny blonde hair tucked into a neat side pony tail that curled over her left shoulder; Emma looked every bit the happy, perky, talented nanny to a loveable little girl.

 

What most people didn't know however, was that she was highly trained in hand to hand combat, was positively lethal with a bladed weapon and had a gun proficiency that would make most Preventers jealous. Like a badass ninja fairy.

 

Duo was proud of his team, smiling to himself every time he overheard members of the Royal Guard talking in half impressed, half scared whispers about the spook team that guarded the royal heir with a single minded tenacity.

 

He'd even sunk his teeth into the weak ass excuse of an intelligence network in Sanq and was in the midst of pulling it up by its bootstraps to be something that both Zechs and Wufei could rely on to keep a close eye on the kingdom and beyond. In a few years, the kingdom of Sanq would truly be a force to reckon with.

 

He nodded at the blonde who smiled in return and opened the door to the solarium, before stepping back and closing it behind her, no doubt taking up sentry position. The solarium was a large and well lit room, looking out unto the vast palace flower gardens. Lovely hand painted wallpaper with all manner of flora was accented by tasteful furniture and a plethora of lush green plants.

 

At the centre of the room, just under the high French windows, was a large woven rug scattered with mismatched, colourful pillows. Among the cushions, was a little girl; hugging a stuffed lion. Her blonde curls lay wild against the colourful patterns, her blue gingham sundress rumpled up over her curled up legs; delicate white lace socked toes peeking out from under the cloth.

 

As he grew closer he could see her little shoulders shaking, hear her sniffles muffled in the pillows.

 

"Aww, baby girl" he murmured, toeing off his shoes and carefully climbing unto the pile of cushions. He settled beside her, opening his arms as she turned over with a whimper and pressed her tear streaked face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked gently as her sniffles turned into sobs. They were painful to hear and tugged at his heartstrings something awful.

 

He settled in, running finger through her curls and singing soft spacer songs he'd learned with the sweepers. They were heavily edited of course but were a favourite of the princess on late nights when she couldn't sleep. He reached out to her with his guide essence, feeling her stress and sending along soothing and comforting thoughts.

 

As her sniffles slowly subsided, she turned her clear blue gaze to meet his; her eyes were red and puffy; her damask cheeks stained with tears tracks. He pulled out a white handkerchief and wiped the snot from her nose, instructing her to blow before tucking it away.

 

"Hey you…" He brushed her hair away from her face and gave her a soft smile. "… what's got my favourite princess of Sanq so down?"

 

Ilora gave him a weak pout, blinking thick lashes. "I'm the only princess of Sanq."

 

"Too true." Duo chuckled. "But you're still my favourite anyway."

 

She giggled softly, tucking her face against his black dress shirt, her tiny hind gripping his black leather holster. Then, after some coaxing, he was able to get her to talk about what had been troubling her.

 

She'd been feeling the rising tension in the palace, especially between her father's. She didn't know what had been making her feel so twisty inside and hadn't been sure how to talk about it.

 

Duo thanked her for talking to him and pressed soft kisses to her forehead, his own mind racing. His heart went out to the little girl  as his concern for her guide status grew. They all had known that Ilora had great potential as a guide but they'd all thought that there would be time for her to grow up some more before her skills developed further.

 

Even though Wufei and Zechs had both been training her in simple meditation techniques and mental exercises, they'd kept everything simple. No doubt they would have to step up their game if Ilora's empathic abilities were growing. She needed to have the tools to handle any emotional backwash she would encounter.

 

He let his guide essence stretch out to meet her fledgling one, sending comfort and love along and felt her relax in stages until she was all but sagging against him, half drowsed.  He lay her gently against the pillows and watched  as she fell into a light and peaceful sleep.

 

Looking at her face, so innocent in sleep as she was in life, he felt such a deep and unending love for the little girl before him. In  the few months he'd known her, not only had she become his princess, someone he'd sworn to protect with his very life; but she was also the little girl he'd come to see as a beloved niece. Shit, Wufei was practically his brother and Zechs was quickly becoming just as close.

 

Ilora had come to be the very heart of them. An joyous innocence that was pure; untouched by the death and violence that had left their mark on all the men and women who'd ever stepped into a mobile suit and he'd come to love her with an intensity that sometimes stole his breath away.

 

After a while, he carefully extracted himself from the mountain of pillows and checked in with Emma at the door, leaving the princess in her capable hands and heading off in search of his lover.

 

He needed his sentinel. He needed Heero.


	4. Chapter 4

Duo breathed out slowly, letting his forehead rest against Heero's as he sank down fully unto his lover's cock. Strong yet gentle hands held him steady at the waist, keeping him still and fully impaled. He groaned softly, hips trembling from the effort of trying not to move, distracting himself by letting his hands roam freely over Heero's broad shoulders, back and chest.

 

Finally and slowly, ever so slowly, the grip on his hips loosened and he curled his hips forward then backwards; building up a steady rotation that left them both breathless and grunting.

 

His toes curled with each shallow thrust, his knees tucked up against Heero's hips as he moved his own hips in wider, deeper circles. They both moaned, the hands on his waist pulling him close against a firm chest; his arms wrapping around tanned shoulders. He buried his face in Heero's thick  hair, fingers stealing up to run though the wild and unruly brunette curls

 

The room was quiet, the only sounds were soft, breathy sighs and whispered words of endearment. The large, plush armchair they were on was tucked up into a corner of their bedroom, a lovely and oh so comfortable thing with a large handmade afghan that was perfect for curling up with a book and even better for curling up with a lover.

 

Duo leaned down, pressing sweet lingering kisses along  Heero's lips and jaw along with whispering his name; his hands cradling the back of the Japanese man's neck as if it was something infinitely precious. Heero's mouth tasted of strong bitter coffee and the frosted cinnamon rolls that they'd snuck from the royal kitchens and Duo couldn't help but dip to taste him again.

 

After leaving the Princess in her team's capable hands, he'd gone in search of his lover; finding him just as he'd come out of yet another meeting with the Wufei and the Royal Guard about the search for Catalonia.

 

Under Wufei's smug gaze, he'd made up an excuse to steal Heero away, tugging him by the hand up to their room by way of the kitchens. Lunch had been a caraffe of hot black coffee and a pilfered tray of rolls, freshly frosted and gooey.

 

They'd lounged on the bed, sweet and sticky kisses and fumblings as Heero's senses levelled out and Duo's empathy calmed. They'd been so busy these past few days, fulfilling their many duties separately; not finding much time together except when they grabbed a hasty meal or tumbled exhausted into bed.

 

He'd been able to carve out a few stolen moments here and there; in quiet corners and convenient broom closets, but they not nearly enough. They would tumble together, Duo yanking his shirt out of his pants so that Heero could slip his hands to touch skin to skin; his face buried in Duo's neck as he breathed deeply.

 

Duo's hands would find their way into Heero thick hair, the itchy, jumpy feeling at the back of his mind quieted by the close proximity of his bonded sentinel. A few minutes later they would be off again, going their separate ways as duty called.

 

His lover growled and upped the pace, his calloused hands lifting and lowering Duo almost effortlessly as he thrust steadily into the delicious heat.  A full body shudder went through the 02 pilot, clenching down almost helplessly on the hot cock fucking him so good.

 

"Fuck…. Hee-chan…" Duo whimpered, delving in for a deeper kiss as he moved his hips in a deep roll, taking his lover deeper within him. They both moaned, bodies moving in tandem as they chased their pleasure. Heero grunted with each upward thrust, his blue eyes almost black as he stared into Duo's violet gaze.

 

"Aisuru… onegai" He gasped, his hands slipping down to grab Duo's ass, squeezing and spreading them apart. There was a free standing mirror near the wall over Duo's shoulder and he watched, mesmerized at the sight of his slick cock pistoning slowly in and out of his lover's pert ass.

 

Duo gave a high whine, a sure sign that he was swiftly approaching climax and Heero sped up the pace, his lover's breathless sighs and whimpers like sweet music to his ears. He reached a hand between them and palmed Duo's shaft, pumping twice and twisting. Duo stiffened, a long groan escaping through clenched teeth, and came hot over both their stomachs as shudders racked his frame.

 

Heero hissed a curse as Duo clenched impossibly tight around his cock, his hands finding his lover's waist once more and holding him still as he fucked into that pulsating heat. Dear Kami, the sounds that his lover made, soft gasping mewls at each thrust. The slick smack of flesh against flesh. The racing heartbeat of his guide, Heero's touchstone when nothing else in the world seemed sure.

 

His climax surprised him, stealing over him like a thief in the night and he threw his head back, burying himself balls deep in his lover as he bit back a shout.

 

"I wanna hear you Hee-chan. Lemme hear you baby" Duo's hands tugged sharply at his hair, his tongue licking a hot stripe up his neck. Heero's mouth fell open and a wail seemed ripped from his very soul. He shook uncontrollably, his eyes falling shut as his hands gripped tight enough to bruise. Duo murmured hot and filthy words in his ear, his wonderful hands petting Heero's sweat damp chest and shoulders.

 

A quick shower and a change of clothes later and they are lazily kissing each other goodbye at the door of their rooms, reluctant to head back to the full workloads that awaited them both. Eventually they couldn't ignore their chirping phones anymore and parted ways, Heero heading over to Preventer offices for another Strategic Planning session while Duo went to check in with Wufei.

 

Une was waiting in Wufei's office at the palace, making Duo pull up short in surprise. He froze in the doorway of the tastefully appointed workspace Wufei had claimed for his own. The Chinese man was sitting behind his desk, an antique brought to earth from the L5 repository that the clan had left behind for its last remaining heir.

 

The Commander of the Preventers was sitting opposite, reading device in hand as they both seemed to be perusing and discussing the same file. Une looked good for a woman with the weight of such a powerful organization on her shoulders. But then again, Une had always been a woman of strong convictions, even when they'd been on opposite sides of the war.

 

As much as Duo respected her as a warrior, he readily avoided the woman as their personalities had never meshed well together. She'd was too much of a hard ass and Duo too irreverent towards authority for them to be anything other than an international incident waiting to happen.

 

Fuck, they'd barely gotten through the coronation without blood being shed.

 

Dressed in her Bark blue uniform with tan shoulders, her hair in the intricate braids she'd sported during the war, Une looked severe, almost dour as she speared Duo with a sharp look over the thin, black rims of her rounded glasses. He raised a curious eyebrow back at her and she huffed in annoyance and turned back to the desk.

 

Wufei bit back a smile and waved the braided pilot towards a sofa nearby where a bored Mariemaia Khushrenada was lounging, her ears plugged with headphones that trailed from her phone. The teenaged redhead was still heavily into the bulky, multi-coloured, multi-layered clothes as when they'd first met and he gave her a nod of fashion approval as he slumped next to her on the couch.

 

She too gave him the trademarked 'Une' once over though she graced him with a smile and one of her ear buds. He took it with a nod of thanks and they spent the rest of the meeting watching cat videos.

 

The meeting ended with Une bidding her goodbyes and Mariemaia giving Wufei a hug and heading up to Ilora's rooms. She and Duo had been discussing the princess and the red head had suggested a 'play date' to cheer the blonde girl up.

 

Both Une and Wufei had agreed when she'd brought it up after the meeting as they were able to kill two birds with one stone. They would succeed in keeping both Mariemaia and Ilora safe within the palace while keeping both girls in high spirits. The threat of Catalonia's machinations loomed over Treize's daughter as much as it did over Zech's.

 

Duo was able to hold his cheeky tongue behind his teeth until both women left, dropping himself unto the chair Une had vacated with an exaggerated swoon. Wiping imaginary sweat from his forehead, he shared a look of humour with Wufei.

 

The 05 pilot leaned back in his high backed chair, leaning his chin on his fist with an indulgent smile. "Such restraint Maxwell, that must have been so hard for you."

 

Duo cut a glance at the Chinese man from under the arm thrown across his eyes. "I resent your insinuation Wu-bear. I am the very soul of restraint."

 

Wufei snorted. "Oh please, the only restraint you are interested in involves Yuy and a pair of fluffy handcuffs."

 

Duo barked a laugh, flailing as he nearly fell off the chair.

 

As the laughter faded, Wufei handed him a piece of paper. Thick,  expensive parchment with an all too familiar seal.

 

"Winner Enterprises Incorporated?" Duo frowned, scanning the document. "An inquest into the circumstances surrounding the current medical status of the CEO and Head of Family- Quatre Reberba Winner. I thought Q-bean was stable enough for Iria to take him home to L4. Are they suing us or something?"

 

Duo handed the paper back, taking in the scowl on his friend's face. Wufei shrugged, something that Duo never thought he would see the formerly uptight pilot do.

 

"Not exactly. The Preventer led investigation has finally been wrapped up and the findings distributed to all concerned parties. At the time Iria Winner was the ad-hoc head of the family and the company until a final decision could be made. She was also Quatre's primary physician and the only sibling read into the real events that happened.

 

Quatre's catatonic state left a sudden vacuum in the family dynamic and there's been a lot of in fighting over who will assume control of one of the largest family dynasties in our age."

 

"Dammit Q. Why'd you have to go all Zero Loco on us?" Duo muttered bitterly. He looked up at Wufei. "So what is the situation now?"

 

Wufei sighed, "After all was said and done, there is a new Head of the Family. Sayida Winner, the third eldest daughter. She's a tenured professor of anthropology at the University of L4 with three doctorates. WEI will be run by a three woman panel consisting of a mix of sisters and nieces with the sharpest business acumen answering to a larger council of the elder Sisters. Seems that the family has really come together over this."

 

Duo's lips twisted. "I guess sharing a loss can really bring a family together."

 

"Turns out shared hatred can do that just as well." Wufei huffed a sharp breath. "Consensus is that they are not too pleased with what happened to the Winner Golden Boy and are even less pleased with the redacted report that the Preventers just released. They are planning to conduct their own investigation and want to send a small team to Sanq to do so."

 

Duo's eyebrows raised. "Are we going to let them?"

 

Wufei shook his head ruefully. "We can't not let them. No matter what you and I know happened, bottom line is that the Scion of the Winner Empire fell into a catatonic state within these palace walls and up to now, we have yet to give his family all the facts surrounding this event."

 

He turned towards the open window, "If we try to block them from coming it would appear to the rest of the world that we have something to hide."

 

"Well, we kinda do." Duo reasoned. Wufei huffed, rolling his eyes.

 

"Yes, but the world doesn't know that. And with Sanq just starting to settle under Zechs' new rule, we can't afford to alienate anyone by seeming to be subversive."

 

"I hear you Wu. What do you need?"

 

"WEI wants to send a team into Sanq. They are waiting at their home base in Dubai for permission. They want access to the Palace and permission to conduct interviews with all parties present. They've already been to see Noin. "

 

"On actual fucking Mars?" Duo goggled. "These people don't play around."

 

"No, They don't." Wufei frowned. "You and Heero may have to make yourselves available for interview. Zechs and I will also have to be prepared. We need to get together soon to discuss what we would be willing to reveal about what we are and how it played into the situation with Quatre."

 

Duo nodded solemnly. "I'll let Heero know. ETA on when they're gonna arrive?"

 

"Zechs gave the official go ahead this morning. They should be here within the next two days. Hopefully we will be closer to nabbing Catalonia by the time they get here."

 

Duo raised his right hand. "From your mouth to God's ears man."

 

 

Duo was taking the highway towards the Preventers' Offices at Sanq when he felt a pull behind his chest, his hands jerking at the wheel. He barely managed to straighten up again, ignoring the blaring of cars horns behind her when his phone rang. Taking a deep breath, he tried to slow his racing heart.  He jabbed at the phone.

 

"Maxwell" he grunted as he concentrated on driving. The itchy feeling in his head was starting to grow steadily, his pulse loud in his ears.

 

Heero's voice was a growl, his breaths coming fast as if he was running. There were muffled voices in the background and the slamming of car doors.

 

"Catalonia's been spotted. Parc du Marticus Rex. East entrance. We are on our way there now. Three preventer teams en route. Local enforcement are keeping watch but have been ordered not to engage. How far away are you?"

 

Duo swerved the wheel wildly, making an dangerously illegal u-turn and barreling down the opposite lane. "Eleven minutes. Nine if I floor it."

 

"Make it seven." Heero grunted, hanging up.

 

His hands gripped the wheel so tight he was sure that his knuckles would be white under his driving gloves. The itchy feeling in his chest worsened, his concern growing as he swerved in and out of traffic. Something was wrong. His gut was churning, his throat ached.

 

Catalonia was smart. Too smart to just give away her position after staying so well hidden. The bitch was psychotic yes, but she was also a fucking goddamned genius.

 

He quickly hit speed dial for Emma, the Princess' Au Pair and personal bodyguard; his face going cold as the phone just rang and rang. With sharp voice commands he initiated the emergency phone tree that they'd established, his call jumping from number to number as they went unanswered.

 

That wasn't right. Calls along the SOS line never went unanswered.

 

Cursing loudly and vehemently, he called the palace. Precious second went by as the bumbling guard who'd answered the call tried to find someone who actually knew what the fuck was going on. All of the senior personnel had headed out to join in the manhunt. Duo saw red, promising himself that he'd rake the entire Royal guard over the coals when this was all over. He was sure that Heero would be there right along with him after he'd learned of this fuck up.

 

He ran a red light, snarling at the water truck he'd nearly taken the front bumper off of, and called Zech's personal cell. The Sanq regent answered with curt greeting. Duo wasted no time.

 

"I can't get through to Ilora's team. Nobody is fucking answering. I need a status on them now. I'm two minutes away from the Catalonia sighting"

 

"They're not here." Zechs inhaled sharply, his footsteps thudding on hard wood floors as if he'd broken into a sprint. "Mariemaia suggested that they go visit the new ice creamery. It was just ten minutes away by car and Lori was so happy to go. I made them take the entire team. I thought they would be safe."

 

"FUCK!" Duo punched the dashboard. "Something's wrong Zechs. I can feel it."

 

"Oh God Duo…  " Zechs voice sounded hollow and duo could hear Wufei's concerned shout in the background. "My baby. Oh my God."

 

Wufei's voice came on the line. "Duo…"

 

"Catalonia's a fucking decoy. They are after the Princess" Duo barked, turning the car dangerously once again. His route to the park had taken him away from the palace and the ice cream shop and had eaten precious time. "Send word to Heero and the Preventers and tell the fucking Royal Guard to get their heads out of their fucking asses to get some goddamn teams to the ice cream place right fucking now. I'm five minutes away."

 

He hung up without another word, gritting his teeth as punched the dashboard twice more, denting the plastic.

 

"FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!" he all but screamed, pressing his foot heavily on the gas and expertly shifting up gears. Three minutes away. The sharp pulling sensation in his chest was threatening to steal his breath and he could feel Shinigami's cold shadow creeping over his vision.

 

God. He hoped he was not too late.

 

 

His vehicle screeched to a halt half a block from the creamery, the engine still ticking as quickly exited and crouched in the open doorway. Pulling his weapon, he took in the quiet street. Two silver SUVs were lined up in front of the shop and he knew there would be two more towards the back of the building.

 

As much as the armed forces loved black cars, he'd found silver and other neutral colours helped vehicles blend in much better than the big black monsters that the Preventers liked to order in droves. Not to say that the team's rides weren't as armored or suped up as any other. He took Ilora's security extremely seriously.

 

The rest of the street looked deserted, the front of the shop undisturbed. He couldn't see anyone through the etched glass window.  He knew that he should wait for back up, wait for Heero but something was telling him to do something right now.

 

Checking his weapon, he took a deep, calming breath and made his way towards the shop. The door had a bell that jingled merrily, chiming the way to a scene of utter destruction. There was furniture over turned, broken glass and crockery everywhere. Ice cream was melting in pools and puddles, looking like a rainbow pastel mockery of blood.

 

There were bodies strewn across the floor, members of the security team. Checking his blind spots, Duo crept towards one of the closest and checked for pulse. He found one, weak and sluggish and let out a soft sigh of relief.

 

Crouching near the counter, he checked the pulse of the sprawled shop girl.   Also alive. Thank god.  He slipped his phone from his pocket and sent Heero a quick text. Silently, he made his way towards the back rooms, checking pulses as he went.

 

Only a couple of the team sported bruises, mostly defensive wounds and he wondered how they'd been taken down without much of a fight.  He suspected some kind of toxin.

 

There were signs of a struggle in the back room, signs of blood spatter leading towards the back door. Duo's sharp gaze clocked the room, his gun at the ready as he stepped carefully over the trail of blood. His heart rabbited in his chest, his rage and fear burning like a ball in his stomach.

 

That couldn't be Ilora's blood. Nor Mariemaia's. it just couldn't be. He could hear faint sirens approaching. He could feel Heero approaching but he had to concentrate. The princess needed him to stay calm. Shinigami screamed in his mind.

 

The backdoor to the creamery was a simple swing door, a crack of light shining through from where the door hadn't closed all the way. His gaze travelled down the line of the door and snagged on the round tip of a shiny black shoe. His heart stopped. Closing his eyes briefly before he steeled himself and moved forward.

 

He eased the door open to reveal a prone form, smart pink suit stained with dark red blood, sunny blonde hair slipped from it's neat pony tail.

 

"Oh Emma." he breathed, his heart break as he checked for a pulse. There wasn't any. The bullet hole in her chest told him there wouldn't be. He gently closed her unseeing blue eyes and whispered a prayer for her, stepping over the body into the alley.

 

The doors to the SUV hung open, broken tempered glass strewn along the ground. There was a spray of bullet holes across one of the vehicles but thankfully no more traces of blood. He quickly checked the cars, tracing the tire marks leading away from the scene.

 

The sirens were closer now. He could feel Heero growing closer. His sentinel was almost here. Duo let his hands fall to his sides, knowing that their quarry was long gone by now. Shinigami was clawing at his mind and he fought to push it back.

 

Hold on, he begged the God of Death, hold on just for a bit longer.

 

"Duo"

 

Heero's voice was like a clear ringing bell, pushing back the screaming in his head. Duo turned, his eyes meeting Heero's as they both stood frozen in the alleyway.

 

"She took them." Duo whispered, knowing full well that his sentinel could hear him above the din of more back up arriving. "The bitch took them."

 

Heero's eyes went dead, the Perfect Soldier slipping over his countenance like a veil just as Duo felt Shinigami start to close its leathery cold wings around him.

 

"Ninmu Ryoukai"

 

 

Japanese Translations

Aisuru - Beloved

Onegai - Please

Ninmu Ryoukai - Mission Accepted


	5. Chapter 5

 

It took everything in Duo not to take off running down the street after the kidnappers that very second. Shinigami crept at the very edges of his psyche, growling low and dangerous at the base of his skull. Someone had taken what was his. Some lowly rat fucker had snuck like a thief in the night and snatched filthy claws at his tribe. A dirty, no good, kin stealer. A vile interloper. A rancorous blackguard.

 

His sentinel was faring no better. Heero was the ice cold Perfect Soldier as he quickly organized the mix of Preventers and Royal guard that milled around into securing the scene. His accent thickening until he was snapping orders in curt Japanese at the confused officials.

 

Duo knew that he should be trying to reach out to his sentinel. Trying to calm him, to coax him back to his humanity. The ancient L5 books talked about this kind of emotional shunting, this deadening of empathy when in pre-feral distress. That it was something that bonded pairs did in times of incoming threat. It was natural. It was expected.

 

It was a fucking godsend. If he were feeling the full bevy of emotions right now, he'd start killing and wouldn't stop until the streets of Sanq ran red with blood. He'd never been so blood thirsty during the war. Maybe in opening parts of himself that had also been hidden away, he'd also opened up to the darker parts of himself. His brain absently tucked that observation away to ponder later, now was not the time for dispassionate logic.

 

It was time for dispassionate ripping people spines out.

 

He knew that he should be concerned by the cold wind that burned along the bond from Heero. He wasn’t. He was too cold himself. The God of Death screamed in his mind, baying out for the hot, sticky and sweet life's blood of his enemies.

 

He needed to feel their intestines in his fisted hands, to see the steam lifting off organs, freshly gutted. He needed to bathe in their dark, rich ichor and mount their sun bleached skulls along the castle ramparts. Shinigami wanted to rip  the whole world apart and burnit to ashes. He wanted to tear down the stars from the skies one by one and stamp them to dust.

 

"Duo. Maxwell! " His earwig chirped softly, Wufei's tinny voice making it through the screaming, a balm against the chaos railing against his skull.  "You need to calm down. We can feel you from the palace. We need you to calm down and concetrate. Ilora needs you now 02. So snap the fuck out of it."

 

Duo blinked rapidly and tapped at the comm unit in his ear. He turned to look to look at nearest street camera, knowing the Wufei was most likely watching him; curtly nodding his acknowledgement as he didn't trust himself to speak. If he opened his mouth to speak he knew that he would just scream and scream forever until he got his girls back. Heero was standing at his shoulder, his sentinel unnaturally still and ready for orders.

 

Wufei sounded haggard over the comm, the muffled sounds of people murmuring behind him.  A spark of compassion flared in Duo at the utter exhaustion and helpless anger in his voice but it was quickly squashed by Shinigami's shadowy claw. There was no place for that here. No time for that softness now. Now there was only the hunt. The glorious, bloody hunt.

 

"The Preventers and the Guard have cordoned off the area. We are telling the public that it was terrorist attack. Zechs and I will be staying at the palace. We have to… " his voice broke in the middle. "We have to remain here. No one is to know about the kidnapping."

 

Duo turned his head to one side as Heero spoke up.

 

"They've med-evac'd the security team to Sanq medical. Catalonia used some kind of chemical, neurotoxin. I can still detect minute traces of it inside. Burns the nose, bitter and acrid on the tongue. It will be touch and go if they can get the antidote synthesized in time."

 

Duo brutally pushed down another flush of white hot rage. His team. He clenched his gloved fists, sure that if his hands were bare that they would be bleeding already.

 

Wufei continued. "Une is sending an elite Preventer Spec Ops team to back you up. When you start tracking the girls, you're going to be moving fast and they're good enough to keep up. They're two minutes out. They'll take their orders from you two and deal with anything you need. Comms, transport, the works."

 

The sound of a keyboard tapping came over the comms.

 

"Zechs and I will take care of everything on this end and keep up the main search for Catalonia. Duo… Heero…" He took a deep breath. Duo could hear the emotion in his voice even without enhanced senses. "Go get our girls."

 

Duo shared a heavy glance with Heero, then looked over his shoulder to where a black SUV was pulling up; dangerous looking men and women in black tactical gear piling out.

 

He turned back to the nearest street surveillance camera, waiting until it slowly swerved to side and down to look right at him. He nodded solemnly and gave the camera a two fingered salute.

 

"Will do, Alpha."

 

He wasn't sure why he said it. It just felt like the right thing to say.  He felt a surge of agreement across the bond, washing over him like a tidal wave righteous fury.

 

The hunt was on.

 

* * *

 

Wufei tapped a key to end the call, taking a couple of calming breaths before swiveling his chair to where Zechs was pacing the other end of the empty security room. He was in his slacks and shirt sleeves, cravat wrecked and hanging loose; his hair wild from running his hands through the blonde locks repeatedly.

 

His 'scent pile', as the old texts liked to call it, was heavily laced with acrid fear, peppery anger and the sickly sweet scent of guilt. At Duo's frantic call, Zechs had confessed that it had been his last minute decision to let the girls go to the creamery. In the midst of all the tension and high emotion, he'd wanted to give his daughter a moment of happiness.

 

No one had expected Dorothy to make her move so quickly, or to have been so effective in taking down a team of highly skilled guards, personally trained by pilot of Deathscythe Hell himself.

 

Zechs' logical brain knew that it wasn't his fault but, unfortunately, guilt did not work like that. The blond's heart radiated guilt in pulsing waves over their bond, threatening to pull Wufei under himself. Zechs' guide instinct wailed endlessly for his missing daughter from behind closed lips.

 

The screens behind him showed various angles of the kidnapping scene and surrounding streets. On one of them he could see Duo and Heero quickly corralling Une's tactical team and taking off down the street at a brisk pace.

 

Between Heero's sharpened senses and Duo's empathic ability, he knew that both men would be able to find their girls. He knew it in his heart that they would stop at nothing to get Ilora and Mariemaia back home. He also trusted them to bring them back home alive. He had to or he would surely go mad.

 

It didn't hurt that both men were ex-gundam pilots and two of the most deadly and determined sons of bitches he'd even known. If anyone could save Ilora in his stead, it was pilots 01 and 02. The God of Death and the Perfect Soldier.

 

He pushed off from the chair, leaving it spinning in his wake as he stepped right up into his husband's space; making the taller man stop  in place and blink stupidly. Wufei cupped Zechs strong jaws and brought their foreheads together. He breathed deeply, slow and steady breaths until his guide started to follow suit.

 

His guide's heartbeat slowed to that familiar and cherished drum that was the centre of Wufei's universe on most days. The first and foremost of the patterns that his sentinel recognized as tribe and coveted viciously.

 

"We should be out there." Zechs' sounded ruined. "I need her in my arms, XĪNGĀN. I need my baby."

 

"And she needs you to be the King Sanq needs right now." Wufei replied. "There is nothing I want more than to hunt that bitch down through the streets of Sanq and hang her lifeless corpse from the chandelier in the main ballroom with a song in my heart."

 

He closed his eyes and pressed his face into the warm skin of his husband's neck with a trembling and frustrated sigh. "But I can't . We can't. Sanq is still too unstable right now. That's exactly what Catalonia wants. For us to falter and let the kingdom crumble unto itself. I want to be right out there with you but we need to make sure that there is a home for our daughter to come back too."

 

He felt Zechs' arms come up around him and hold him close. He pressed a kiss to the underside of his guide's jaw.

 

"We need to trust in the others. Duo and Heero are the best." he pressed another kiss on his lover's cheek. "And they are dedicated as hell."  A kiss at the corner of the blonde's full mouth. "And they love Ilora as much as we do."

 

They share a kiss filled with bittersweet heartbreak and hopeful determination. When they finally broke apart, both sentinel and guide were on more of an even keel.

 

"I love you." Zechs breathed against Wufei's cheek. "Thank you. I'd be lost without you. You keep saving me."

 

The Chinese man blushed and chuckled, running his fingers though the blonde's hair as he tried to neaten it. He fiddled with the cravat, finally giving it up as a lost cause.

 

"We save each other." he affirmed with a soft, private smile. "Now let's go and show the world how gundam pilots get shit done."

 

Zechs chuckled ruefully, raising one coy eyebrow.

 

"Mission Accepted"

 

 ---------------------------------

 

Mariemaia Khushrenada went from unconscious to alert in the span of a heartbeat. Keeping her breathing steady and her eyes closed,  she performed a quick check of her situation. She was warm and laying on her side, fully clothed with the weight of a blanket tucked around her.

 

She was on a mattress, thin and a bit smelly. It lay on hard even ground, most likely concrete. Her neck ached as there was no pillow and her face was cold and clammy; probably from the floors or walls being damp. It smelled a bit like mould.

 

If she concentrated, she could hear echoes of water dripping along pipes, metallic plinks and plonks. Beyond that was the faint sounds of movement, voices phasing in and out.

 

Her whole body hurt and she felt her stomach flip flop, biting her lip to fight back the nausea. Her left hand was asleep, weighed down by something in her arms. Make that someone in her arms.

 

She let her eyes slip open and light blonde curls filled her vision. Ilora was tucked tight against her, her tear tracked face half buried in the bright puffy jacket that Mariemaia wore everywhere these days.

 

The red head clocked the room, checking for persons nearby and upon finding none, checked for means of surveillance. Seeing how old the building was, she dismissed the option of hidden cameras. There seemed to be no evidence of cameras but she didn't rule out audio surveillance. Technology was pretty advanced in this day and age.

 

The walls were simple drywall, the door wooden and looked to be made of cheap plywood with a two dollar lock. Pitiful. She could pick it in her sleep. Who were these people? Amateurs?

 

Didn't they know how she was? Who her father was? Fools. They had no idea that this particular redhead had learn subterfuge and survival skills from the infamous pilot of Gundam Shenlong. The soaring dragon of L5. Hell, she'd made war on the world before she'd even reached double digits.

 

The last thing she remembered was being at the Ice Cream Shop, sharing a large banana split with the Princess while their security team laughed and joked around them.

 

There'd been a noise from the doorway to the back room, then a flash and a bitter smell that lingered on the tongue. She'd thrown herself bodily over the younger girl, pulling Ilora down and upending the table to shield them from that side of the room. Years with Wufei had taught her the hard lesson that it was better to feel humiliated for over reacting than it was feeling regret from acting too late.

 

Around them chaos had reigned, the various members of the security team yelling as they dropped like flies. She'd used the sleeves of her puffy jacket to shield both their noses and mouths against the gas pumping out of the canister that had most likely been thrown in from the kitchens. The sting of it had burned her eyes, making them tear up and turn  the world blurry.

 

Black booted feet appeared had appeared before her, rough hands grabbing at them and yanking them towards the back entrance. She'd kicked out, fighting to stay with Ilora as the hands tried to separate them. There's been no way that she was letting them take the princess without her.

 

There was a scuffle at the back door and the hands holding her had dropped her abruptly. There'd been sounds of fighting and Ilora's panicked screams. Mariemaia had thrown herself at the blonde, pulling her into her arms and shielding her from harm.

 

Suddenly the violence had stopped, a single gunshot ringing out. The resulting silence had seemed just as loud at the noise before. She'd been yanked up again, this time they'd not bothered to pull Ilora away, and had been hustled out onto the street. Rough hands had steadied her as she'd skidded on the wet floor, the metallic and sickening scent of blood curling in her nostrils.

 

They'd been bundled into the back of a van, heads pressed down close to the dirty carpet; only the sounds of her heavy breathing and Ilora's soft sobs filling her spinning head. She'd passed out sometime after, too dazed to keep track of the twists and turns the vehicle had been making. She had no idea how long they'd driven or in which general direction they'd travelled.

 

Sloppy.

 

Huh. Funny how critique always sounded like Wufei's voice in her head.

 

She shook off the self-aggrandizement. It was not helpful nor desired in this situation. What was important was to gather as much information as she could and to keep the Princess and herself alive and out of harm's way until the gundam pilots came to unleash unholy Hell upon the enemies of Sanq.

 

She eased Ilora's head from where it lay on her arms, peeling away the blanket and checking the little girl for injuries. There was some bruising on her arm from where one of their captors had gripped her too tight but no other signs could be seen. She felt tentatively along the arm but could find no breaks. She breathed a sigh of relief, trying to dampen the cold lead ball of rage she felt at the pit of her stomach.

 

Gundam pilots may have felt anger and rage as a fiery inferno, blazing hot and out of control, but the daughter of Trieze Khushrenada, forged in the heart of Romerfeller and tempered into steel by the hands of Lady Une; her rage burned cold and heavy. Endless and unforgiving as space, her rage was patient and unyielding as the sea.

 

She wrapped the sleeping princess in the jacket once more before getting up and walking the room; checking the walls, floors and ceilings for any weakness she could take note of and exploit if need be. She was right, the door was shit. The lock was shit.

 

She reached into her curls and pulled out a brightly coloured hair clip. She pulled it open it out into a lock pick, a trick she'd learned from Duo; and made quick work of the lock. It popped open way too easily. The hall way was just as old and cheaply made. No cameras in sight but she couldn't be 100% sure.

 

She crept to the end of the hall, peeping around the corner. Beyond was a large open area, some kind of old office building that had fallen into disrepair. The guards were playing cards around a fold out table while a fourth was perched on the hood of an old non-descript sedan, whittling some kind of figurine from a piece of wood.

 

She scoffed silently to herself. They'd didn't even have anyone in the hallway or guarding the prisoners. What kind of guards were these? Well, all the better for her. She slipped back to the room, not bothering to creep because there'd been no signs of monitoring equipment visible in the outer area.

 

She locked the door behind her and checked on Ilora once more. She felt bad for shaking the girl awake but it had to be done. The princess woke with a gasp, a little hand slapping over her own mouth to stifle the noise. Mariemaia's heart twisted at the sight. To know that the young girl had enough wherewithal and experience to muffle her own screams.

 

Blue eyes, normally so bright and happy were shiny with unshed tears and Marie quickly hugged the little girl to her, wrapping her up in a tight embrace as she quietly began to sob. After  a few minutes she'd cried herself out slowly sat back, sniffling quietly as the redhead wiped away her tears and told her about what she'd been able to find out so far.

 

They quickly agreed that it was better to try to escape now. If the people who'd taken them had been hired by Catalonia, then they needed to make a break for it before the woman herself showed up.

 

No doubt their situation would change drastically for the worse and become exponentially more complicated if they were still here when the woman arrived. Catalonia was dangerous. She was smart and clever and worse of all, she was a shrewd adversary.

 

Mariemaia made quick work of the cheap lock once again and they crept out to the last turn. The guards were still at their game of cards, laughing and being generally unconcerned about their hostages. The one that had been whittling was actually slumped asleep on the hood of the vehicle now, his body precariously close to sliding off.

 

Mariemaia shook her head in disgust. Were these guys for real? Did they really think that because she and the princess were girls that there was no need for even the slightest effort on their parts as the bad guys.

 

Rolling her eyes one last time, she motioned Ilora to go back the way they came. The other side of the hall revealed nothing in the way of escape except a small high window. It was a bit of a stretch but with something to climb on, they could make it.

 

A quick search of the nearby rooms netted them an old office chair. It was rusty and the wheels sqeaked as they rolled it slowly towards the window. Every noise seemed abnormally loud and had the redhead constantly glancing down the hall.

 

It concerned her how utterly quiet Ilora was being but the girl didn't seem outwardly injured to Marie would have to wait until they were safe before addressing the issue.

 

Finally, they got the chair in place and with the princess bolstering the arms, the red head stepped up carefully and reached for the window. They'd agreed that the teen would go first and assess the viability of the escape route. She hadn't been able to guess if the space they were in was ground level or how high the drop from the window was outside.

 

If it was safe, Ilora would mount the chair and Mariemaia would pull her up and over. The chair squeaked loudly as she jumped to hook her fingers on the window sill and Ilora 's gasp echoed in the silence of the hall. Straining, the teen pulled herself up by her fingers, hooking her torso over the sill. She did a quick once over of the situation outside.

 

"Lori, we can make it out from here. Get on the chair. I'll pull you up and help you over. It's not that much of a drop. There's a fire ladder we can use to get to the street."

 

There was no reply. A shard of ice pierced her gut.

 

"Lori?"  she twisted so that she could look back at the princess. Ilora was standing there, trembling as she stared down the corridor. Huffing breathlessly, she scooched back from the sill so that she could follow the little girl's gaze.

 

The ice shard twisted painfully as she spotted a lone figure at the end of the hall. Black heeled boots, polished till they gleamed. A smart burgundy suit with lilac blouse and matching headband. Pale blonde hair and severely forked eyebrows.

 

"Hello lovelies. Trying to leave us already?" Dorothy Catalonia met the redhead's wide and surprised gaze and gave a small knowing smile. "Why, we've only just begun."

 

\-----------------------------------------

 

The formerly empty space with its few distracted guards had been transformed into a bustling operation with the makings of a small medical space to one side. The redhead, her hand gripping a still trembling Ilora's, took in everything; her mind quickly cataloguing details as it raced with plans; half birthed and discarded in seconds.

 

She kept the younger princess close, pulling her up unto her lap when ushered to a small seating area. The set-up is absurd, with richly upholstered arm chairs and ornate wooden furniture. A large circular rug that looked like it was taken directly from an old castle, defined the space and kept it separate from the rest of the stripped down empty area.

 

She felt the princess grab unto her hand, lacing their fingers together. The blonde was staring about almost unblinkingly, fine tremors running through her small frame almost continuously. She'd kept herself mute even since Catalonia had shown up, fear evident in her clear blue eyes.

 

There was a quiet strength there though. A core of steel that Mariemaia recognized as being something all Peacecrafts seemed to possess. She gave the girl's hand a squeeze, unsure whether it was for giving comfort or seeking it, and tucked a stray blonde curl behind the small shell of her ear.

 

Ilora swallowed and gave her the slightest nod, squeezing the redheads hand in both of her own. Mariemaia felt a calm fall over her, a soft reassurance that they were going to make it. Whatever happened, they were going to get through this. To her surprise and mortification, she felt her eyes sing with tears and blinked them away; ducking her head and letting her ruby red curls face in front of her face.

 

Ilora stiffened in her arms and she lifted her gaze to see Dorothy sitting in the chair opposite, calmly sipping tea from an ornate tea set. There were little pastries and fingers sandwiches on a sterling silver stand and a vase of freshly picked flowers. It seemed so very absurd in the situation and she couldn't help but feel a surge of hot dislike for the woman sitting before her.

 

A weak giggle sounded from the side and the redhead leaned around the princess in search for the source, letting out a loud gasp at the sight of a figure slumped in a wheelchair, an old man standing in attendance behind it.

 

"Miss Relena?" Mariemaia gaped, her eyes bugging at the sight of the Former ruler of Sanq. Relena looked nothing like her former self, shrunken and pale; a thick blanket tucked around her too thin legs like an invalid. Mariemaia let out a distressed sound, clutching Ilora tighter.

 

"Interesting isn't it?" Dorothy hummed, sipping from her steaming cup. "What withdrawal from long term Ephyon influence does to the mind and body."

 

She places the cup on the saucer and picked up one of the sandwiches, taking a bite. She hummed with pleasure. "These are as delicious as I remember Pargan. I've missed your cooking so."

 

"Thank you Miss Dorothy." the old man gave a modest bow.

 

The blonde finished off the treat and dusted her fingers off before picking up her cup once again. She chuckled at the gobsmacked look on the redhead's face.

 

"Oh, Relena didn't have the implant, my dear. Quatre was the only one compatible with the implants. He was a strong one, dear Quatre. A worthy opponent. No, Miss Relena  and the Winner spent so much time together, bonding over their coveted 01 that there was substantial and sustained bleed from the Zero system.'

 

"That's what I've been able to ascertain anyway." She shrugged daintily, putting her empty cup aside. "Miss Relena, as you can see, isn't the skilled orator that she was in the past. I've had to rely on Pargan and the specialist that I brought in from Prague. Doctor Zazca has been a long time expert on Ephyon and its effects on the human brain. Isn't that right doctor?"

 

"Of course Miss Dorothy." an accented voice came from behind their chair, making both girls freeze with fear. "It's a fascinating field."

 

A stout, grey haired woman with a stern mouth and cold grey eyes stepped out from around the chair to stand next to Relena's wheelchair. She nodded briskly to Pargan and smiled indulgently at the figure in the chair. The smile looked odd on her face, like her muscles didn't know how to adapt to the foreign movement.

 

Mariemaia felt Ilora flinch in her arms, her breathing increasing as her trembling got more noticeable. She was leaning into the redhead's body, as if trying to get as much space between her and the good doctor as she could.

 

The gaping maw of fear gnawed on the teen's spine. If the princess was more scared of this woman than of anyone else she'd met today then Mariemaia had every reason to be wary as well.

 

She pulled the blonde closer, feeling the rabbit beating of her little heart against her chest and levelled a glare at the women before her.

 

"As much as this was such a lovely visit, I'm afraid that we have previous plans so if we could just get to the point of this tete a tete so that we can all get on with our lives. Thanks much."

 

Catalonia's laugh was haughty and full of genuine amusement. "There's the little girl I remember at Dekim's knee. I'm glad to see that you haven't changed at all Little Miss Barton."

 

"It's Khushrenada." Mariemaia sneered.  "And you'll see soon enough how much I've really changed. Dotty."

 

The blonde's smile fell off her face abruptly at that much disliked childhood nickname. Grandfather Barton and many others at Romerfeller used to use it to tease her when she was a young girl in a male dominated world.

 

"Very well then, if you insist." her voice was cold, her forked eyebrows twitching as they did when she was upset. Mariemaia ruthlessly squashed a fission of fear before it could shiver up her spine.

 

It had been a gamble, using the name but she needed throw Catalonia off her game. To unsettle her a bit. To subtly shift the power. They were at a severe disadvantage here, there only hope was to hold out until they were rescued. Dorothy held all the cards and that wasn't a good place to be.

 

"I came to Sanq at first to recover some important data that Miss relena had been keeping secured for me. Imagine my surprise when I got here and discovered the archive empty, cleaned of every scrap of information. I figured that Milliardo must have obtained access from Miss Relena somehow and I decided to visit her to confirm my theory. Imagine my dismay at the what the after effects of Zero withdrawal had done to my once dearest friend."

 

She shrugged daintily.

 

"Before that discovery, I had merely planned to leave the country once again and return to my home but upon seeing her like this, I knew that my plan would have to change." The blonde crossed her legs demurely and clasped her hands together, the very picture of a distinguished lady. "My research, which frankly had been stagnating for the past few years, would have to go in a new direction."

 

"What kind of research?" Mariemaia asked, her gaze shifting warily  between the blonde  and the trio clustered at her side.

 

"Why, your father's research into the enhanced of course."

 

The redhead scowled. "You mean Romerfeller's research"

 

It wasn't a question. The pale blonde gave a chuckle behind a demure hand in repsonse. "Semantics dear."

 

She rested her chin against her fist and smiled mischievously at the girls sitting before her. "Both Romerfeller and Oz had a lot of interest in Sensitives. For different reasons of course. Most of it was for money, power, all the usual temptations of men."

 

"I on the other hand think that Sensitives are the future of our planet and the space beyond. We are on the cusp of colonizing other worlds. Of sending the human race out into the stars, beyond the floating garbage cans the colonies have turned into."

 

There was a crazed gleam in the blonde's eyes as she started to get more enthusiastic about he own words.

 

"The human race is advancing in technology so quickly that our evolution has not been able to keep up. We need to be better than we are now, stronger faster, sturdier. Humans need to be smarter, to heal faster. To be genetically pre-dispositioned to survive whatever we may find out there."

 

She gave a smirk and gestured to the others standing beside her.

 

"Doctor Zazca is the best geneticist in the world and has been making enormous leaps and bounds in genetic selection engineering. We'd just been waiting for a major piece of the puzzle in order to go to the next level."

 

She looked across at Relena, smiling indulgently as the thin woman gave her a weak wave. "Relena's blood samples have already given us positive results but the damage wreaked by Ephyon has degraded her too much physically."

 

She looked back at them, her eyes drawn to the princess in Mariemaia's arms. The redhead sucked in a sharp breath as the girl in her arms froze, both coming to the same awful conclusion.

 

"You see…  in a perfect world, Milliardo would be the best candidate for genetic sampling. His is the most powerful recorded sample to date." Dorothy's voice was soft and held awful secrets. "But since the new King of Sanq would hardly be willing to comply with our request,  we decided to go with the next best option."

 

Ilora whimpered softly and turned to bury her face in Mariemaia's neck. The teen wrapped her arms tighter around the little girl's shaking frame, her eyes promising pain if any of them made a move towards them.

 

Zazca nodded resolutely. "of course the child would have to come with us. We would need to make a study of her potential, how powerful her skills develop as she matures. Sustained testing would also require a continued source of fresh plasma…."

 

"SHUT UP YOU HEARTLESS FREAK" Mariemaia screamed, hugging the now sobbing princess in her arms and halting the pure awfulness that had been pouring out of the hellish Doctor's mouth.

"You touch her and I swear to God that I will gut you from stem to stern. See you like being on the table."

 

Both the doctor and the former queen jumped, both going pale. The doctor gave such a look of affront that the redhead would have laughed if she wasn't terrified out of her mind.

 

Relena shrunk in on herself and started to cry, prompting Pargan to soothe her as he carefully rolled the wheel chair away. Dorothy stared after them before turning back to pin the girls with a look of anticipation.

 

"There's that fire I remember so well from dear cousin Treize. I don't doubt you one bit, Niece. Your DNA must surely be just as magnificent."

 

She nodded to the doctor who smiled smugly and gestured at two orderlies who'd been waiting near the simple medical equipment. They were big and muscle bound, their scrubs stretching tight over their shoulders and arms.

 

Mariemaia made her move, diving out of their chair as Ilora let out a terrified scream. She quickly pushed the girl down behind her, pulling a wickedly sharp flip knife from a secret pocket in her pants.

 

She settled into a fighting stance, trained into her by Chang Wufei himself and perfected by the combined efforts of Duo Maxwell and Heero Yuy.

 

"Come at me you fuckers…" she growled at them all. "Let me punch your tickets to Hell."

 

\------------------------------------------

 

Duo stumbled, his vision blurring as a wail of distress came over the psyonic plane. Heero's arms steadied him as his knees gave out, pulling him against a firm chest.

 

"Ilora…" he gasped out, staring into concerned blue eyes. "it's Ilora."

 

Heero bared his teeth like the snarl of a predator. "Show me."

 

Duo fell into Shinigami immediately, trusting Heero to keep him tethered to the real world and safe. Their back up milled around them, ready to move and geared for war. They hadn't asked any questions so far so wither Une had briefed them or they were accustomed to this kind of thing.

 

The shadow crept over his vision, turning the world both darker and more defined. Strings of light, brighter and dimmer, slung like cobwebs over the world. From places to things and people. There was a string, thick and pulsing between him and his sentinel, their bond glowing bright.

 

Others left him and stretched across the tops of building to faraway places and he knew instinctively that they led to Zechs and Wufei and beyond to Hilde and Howard even in space.

 

He blinked away the distraction and focused on his love and devotion to Ilora. The bond between them pulsed bright and urgent, leading away northwest.

 

"There" He pointed, knowing that they could not see what he was seeing. Heero pulled him to his feet and hustled him into the back seat vehicle and jumping in behind. He ordered on of the back-up team to drive and they were off within seconds.

 

They made fast tracks through the city. Duo murmuring directions to Heerowho related them to the driver and navigator. One of the other members pored over a map of the city, researching potential spots and pulling up information on their purposed and occupants.

 

They swerved right sharply at Duo's yell, cutting through traffic and ducking down an alley into a medium sized industrial area. Duo struggled to keep Shinigami from taking over completely, form letting himself sink into the shadow that called to him.

 

Ilora's anxiety and fear was growing along the familial bond they shared and he tried to send back reassurances though he had the feeling that he wasn't as successful as emoting as she was.

 

Heero's sudden shout startled them all, his orders in sharp Japanese bring the car to a halt. He leapt out, Duo a step behind and started running. The team followed, guns at the ready as the former wing pilot followed some invisible trail.

 

There was barely a pause in front of an old abandoned warehouse before Heero barreled through the doors, guns up and firing; Duo at his six, a crazed grin on his elfin face. Up ahead he could hear the roar of his sentinel and let himself fall into the pit of black flames finally, totally.

 

Shinigami threw its head back and laughed and the horrible sound of it echoed through the air like a death knell.

 

\---------------------------------------

 

He came back to himself covered in blood, twin blades in his hands and bodies strewn around him. He sought out his sentinel, breathing a relieved sigh as he found Heero kneeling next to an upturned  examination table, its straps ripped out. Ilora was in his arms, safely tucked against his chest and weeping brokenly.

 

Mariemaia was sitting dazed near to them, blood splattered across her face. The body of a woman lay before her in a red stained lab coat. The flip knife he'd given her as a gift was buried in the woman's throat, blood still bubbling from the wound.

 

His eyes caught on a familiar pink car and he balked, stalking over to investigate. The limo was riddles with bullet holes and a cursory glance around it revealed an old man laid across the dirty concrete. There was an upturned wheelchair next to him. Duo crouched and carefully turn the body over.

 

"Shit." he muttered at the sight of Pargan's slack face. Under the old man was another body and duo hissed a breath as he slowly peeled back the thick blanket. "Fuck me."

 

Relena's face looked stricken, as if she'd been given a terrible fright. There were no wounds on her body so he guessed that maybe her heart had failed. He wondered absently how her old man servant had been able to slip away from house arrest and made a note to check on the new security team that had been sent to replace the old one.

 

He pulled the blanket back over Relena's face and said a silent prayer for her. She'd been his enemy once, his adversary for Heero's attention. She'd cause them so much pain over the years and though he may never forgive her, he at least respected her passing.

 

The back-up team milled around them, arresting the living and stripping the dead of weapons, no doubt calling in for more support. He fell to a kneel next to Mariemaia and pulled her into a one armed hug. She rested her head against his shoulder with a sigh, slumping boneless as she began to shake.

 

He just pulled her closer, pressing a kiss to the crown of her head as they watched a softly growling Heero hold a weeping Ilora in his arms like she was the most precious thing in the world.

 

And he wasn't ashamed to admit to himself or to anyone else. She kinda was.

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Zechs burst through the doors of the Palace medical wing at a straight run and gave a cry when he saw his daughter. Ilora wailed at the sight of her father, pulling away from Heero's embrace as the tall blonde man scooped her up into his arms.

 

It was the first time since the rescue that she'd let anyone else other than the Japanese man touch her. She'd shied away from the doctors and nurses, only letting Duo and Mariemaia come near but not to touch.

 

As Duo watched the father and daughter unite, he felt Heero's arms steel around his waist, pulling him close. He lay his head back on his sentinel's shoulders and watched through slit eyes as Wufei entered and made a bee-line for his family, tears quietly streaming down his face.

 

Une came in behind the Shen Long Pilot, grabbing up Mariemaia, uncaring that the teen was still covered in dried blood and dirt. He let his eyes fall shut completely, letting himself immerse into the emotions of the room.

 

"We did it." Heero murmured in his ear, his arms giving Duo a squeeze. "We did it." his voice wobbled as he buried his face in Duo's neck. He sniffled but was otherwise silent.

 

Duo brought his hands up and threaded his fingers through his lover's, giving them a reassuring squeeze. "Just one more snake to catch."

 

The bitch Catalonia had somehow slipped out in the confusion. Heero growled, just as pissed as Duo at the news.

 

"We'll get her. She won't get away again."

 

Duo smiled, it wasn't a very kind one. He opened his eyes and took a look at Une's face as she held her teary eyed daughter. He also took in the underlying rage on Zechs' and Wufei's faces as they comforted their little girl.

 

"Yeah." he grunted, "Eyebrows doesn't know what she's in for."

 


	6. Chapter 6

Epilogue

 

Dorothy parked the rental car, grabbing her attaché case and stepping out onto the rooftop parking lot. She'd had to cut and run from the warehouse pretty quickly and regrettably she'd lost a close ally in Zazca.

 

It would push her plans back substantially but with the information in her briefcase and back at her home in Prague, she would be able make back up in a short amount of time.

 

She was sad to hear about Relena as well. She'd really had the best intentions for her one time friend and it was unfortunate that she hadn't been able to bring her along back to Prague.

 

The good news in this situation was that she now had a new track to lead her research down. Long term space exploration and genetic manipulation was where the real potential lay. Romerfeller had been so limited in their view. All they'd wanted to do was to secure a powerbase on earth and from there the colonies.

 

What blind, small minded fools they'd been. Good thing all of the old bastards were either dead or had become toothless old dogs in their infirmity. She had seen the way the wind was blowing years ago and would make sure that she reaped the lion's share she surely deserved.

 

She turned away from the car after checking her appearance in the mirror. A long red wig with layered bangs covered her tightly braided platinum hair and distinctive eyebrows. She'd switched out her sharp suit for more casual dark clothing and vampish makeup. All in all she looked nothing like her normal self.

 

There was a private helicopter waiting for her, ready to take her across the border. Flicking red hair over her shoulder, she adjusted the grip on her case and turned to walk towards the stairs up to the helipad. She froze at the figure standing before her before tilting her head with a faint smile.

 

"Hello Lady Une. It's been a while hasn’t it?"

 

Une stood unsmiling, a small handgun pointed at the woman in front of her. Dorothy took a small step forward, shouldering her bag and twirling a red curl around her fingers coyly.

 

"Are you here you take me in?"

 

It made her look young and sweet and it made Une incredibly angry at how much she was reminded of her daughter. Mariemaia was still at the palace, recovering from her ordeal while the Preventers mopped up the aftermath of Yuy and Maxwell's wrath.

 

Reports had shown that the teen herself had killed a woman. The doctor who'd accompanied Catalonia to Sanq and had professed her intention of keeping the young princess as a human lab rat and test subject.

 

Though she considered the woman lucky and that her death by gundam pilot hands would have been not as quick or as painless, it had still been her daughter's hand that had taken her life. Though Mariemaia had been through so much more than a girl her age could imagine, she knew that the repercussions of this would follow her little girl throughout her life.

 

"I always knew that one day we would meet across the battle field again."

 

Dorothy's smug voice brought her out of her own thoughts and she narrowed her eyes at the other woman. The fake redhead was curling her lips in that condescending smile. She'd always hated that smile.

 

The brunette raised an eyebrow and nodded.

 

"I agree. I always knew that it would come down to both of us. Ever since Treize, I knew. It's always been Trieze between us, even after his death."

 

Catalonia nodded, taking another step forward. "We both loved him. Even when we hated each other. I'm glad neither of us ever lost that love. My cousin was one of the best men I've ever known."

 

"True. His heart was always too big for a life of war." Une nodded, "But you're wrong about one thing though…."

 

She raised the gun once again. "I'm not here to take you in."

 

A single shot ran out on the roof top. A few seconds passed before two more shots sounded, the high winds and the whine of helicopter motors muffling the noise.

 

Une pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped the gun down, tossing it beside the body. She rifled through the dead woman's pockets and placed them into the attaché case before taking the entire case.

 

After a moment of thought, she reached out and grabbed the wig right off Catalonia's head, stuffing it into the case before straightening up and walking away. No doubt Yuy's computer prowess would have already taken care of any surveillance footage, erasing any evidence of her presence.

 

She never looked back.

 

 

Sadiya Tasnim Winner walked into the Sanq Royal Palace with her head held high, her heart filled with a simmering rage on behalf of her brother.

 

As the new head of the Winner clan, she knew that it would have been simpler to just send in a team and read their findings but the pain in her heart at seeing her little brother brought so low was just too much for her to stay away.

 

Finally she would see the faces of the infidels who had struck at the apple of her late father's eye. His legacy. It didn't matter what her sister Iria tried to tell her about the medical procedure the boy had put subjected himself through.

 

It didn't matter that the said pieces of metal embedded in in his brain were pressing against the sensitive tissue and were keeping him catatonic, hooked up to life giving machines in a remote private hospice.

 

She and the rest of her team was guided into the main greeting room where two men were waiting. She blinked in surprise at the sight of them, frowning as they weren't the King of Sanq and his L5 husband as she'd been expecting.

 

They were the pilots 01 and 02. Quatre's former comrades and brothers in arms. The braided one, Maxwell gave a small bow and a smile. The other man, Yuy, stood back with his arms crossed and a deep scowl on his handsome face.

 

"Welcome." Maxwell greeted them. "I know that you were expecting to see Zechs and Wufei but it's been a crazy couple of days so we thought that we would cut through all the bullshit and get to the bottom of this whole thing."

 

One of the team puffed up their chest, no doubt ready to argue but they fell quiet when she raised a hand. She looked the L2 born pilot in his eyes, reaching out her gift to read his intent. Her gift was not nearly at the same level as her brother's Heart of Space but she'd honed what little she had with stunning efficiency.

 

"Why should we settle for talking to you?"

 

Maxwell sat and Yuy came to stand at his back, steady and protective. Maxwell felt like honesty, trust, regret and a desire to make things right.

 

"Because I'm the reason why Quatre is the way he is now."

 

Sadiya hissed a sharp breath, her face paling with rage. The rest of the team tittered around her but she paid them no mind.

 

"Tell me." she demanded through clenched teeth.

 

Maxwell held out a hand and calmly replied. "I can show you."

 

Half an hour later, they watched from an upstairs balcony as a tearful Sadiya and her confused team left the castle, piling into their cars and heading straight for the airport.

 

Duo braced his hands on the stone banister and followed the caravan along the long stone drive until it disappeared through the gates. Heero's arms came up around his waist and he leaned back on to his lover's chest with a sigh.

 

There was a cool breeze coming off of the manicured green, the faint smell of roses wafting through the warm sunny afternoon. It was a lovely day, just begging to be spent outside. He gave another sigh, turning his head to nuzzle against the underside of Heero's jaw.

 

"You didn't have to do that you know," Heero murmured, bringing up  a hand to gently brush hair from Duo's face. "We could have handled anything the investigation could bring."

 

"I know." Duo agreed, "But it was better for us to settle it all now. We needed to show her the truth, anything less would not have been enough. The Winners would never have been satisfied with the investigation, no matter how deep they dug; how much secrets they uncovered. We would never have been able to lie well enough to satisfy them. Besides, she had the gift. Weaker than Q-bean's but well trained non the less."

 

 "We don't want them as our enemies. For our sake's and for Sanq's."

 

He turned in Heero's arms and draped his arms around his lover's neck. "Especially if we want to approach them in the future about finding and training potential guides."

 

Heero stilled. "You think…"

 

Duo nodded, "Yeah. All the winners I've met so far seem to have some kind of extra sensory perception. Maybe its hereditary, maybe its genetic. We'll have check it out. I think so though."

 

"Hn" Heero grunted and Duo chuckled against his cheek.

 

"Tell me how you really feel Hee-chan."

 

The Japanese man pulled back a bit and stared at the face of his guide. "I love you."

 

The braided man stilled before a look of wonder crept over his face and he surged forward for a hungry kiss, his hands stealing into Heero's wild hair.

 

"I love you too Heero" he gasped, breathless when they finally fell apart. "I love you so fucking much you don't even know."

 

Heero smiled, a full smile that lit up his entire face. He thought about how Duo had come to save him that day and how he continued to save him every day since. His very own guardian and avenging angel all rolled into one.

 

"I think I have an idea."

 

Duo threw back his head and laughed before snagging his lover's hand and tugging him towards the doors. "What do you say we go see how the family's doing."

 

Heero looked down at their joined hands then up at the love shining in his guide's eyes and the future he saw in them and nodded.

 

"Hai." he pressed a kiss to Duo's knuckles and watched as the other man blushed beautifully. "I like the sound of that."

 


End file.
